Madagascar's instability derives in large part from the combination of extreme poverty (the fate of some 70% of its people) and the fact that the island has one of the world's highest birthrates (the population has increased from less than 3 million around 1900 to 6 million in 1960, to 20 million today). The arrival of large numbers of young people every year looking to join the job market has created a volatile atmosphere in Antananarivo[..] Ravalomanana was elected to a second term in 2006. But even as president he continued to pursue his interests as one of the country's leading businessmen, and there is no doubt that this contributed greatly to his downfall [..] He also made a grave error in negotiating with a South Korean company that wanted to lease an enormous agro-business concession to grow food for export. This raised fears over land tenure in a country where people are intensely attached to their ancestral land

The Korean corporation recently signed an unprecedented agreement to lease 3.2 million acres of arable land from Madagascar at $12 an acre [..] Daewoo plans to put most of the land under corn for export to Korea and the remainder under oil palms, hoping to export the oil on the bio-fuels market. This is a very odd deal, given that Madagascar is a nation that faces food insecurity and has a population that, for the most part, is composed of subsistence farmers[..] Given the ecological sensitivity of the island, it seems like untouched land might be a resource the nation would want to conserve in the long term.

On March 17th, deposed president Marc Ravalomanana handed over power to a military committee so that a referendum on the state of the nation could be organized. The then-opposition rejected that arrangement and power was transferred to the opposition leader Rajoelina.

I could see with my own eyes to what point coercion was used during the coup. I, myself, was threatened verbally at gunpoint. it is not normal that the military of a government threaten accredited diplomats in the country.

Personally, I find the suspension of international aid worrisome. For instance, we are currently working on a construction site financed by the World Bank. If they really are pulling out, we will have to fire everyone.

Hary's example is only one of many. Eric Koller, head of Madagascar's hotel and restaurant federation explains to the BBC :

Eighty per cent of hotels are closing and the provinces have been especially hard hit. Most hotels have reduced staff by 50%, and some have laid off all staff without pay.

March 28th may turn out to be another turning point in the enduring crisis in Madagascar.

Videos taken during the demonstration against the coup show that police dispersed the crowd by firing on protestors and using tear gas (fr):

A protester named Razily carrying a Malagasy flag has struck the imagination of the Malagasy blogosphere. He was filmed marching towards the armed forces alone, while bullets hit the ground around him until he was eventually pushed into a van by the police. A video of Razily was also posted on the New York Post:

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[…] incriminating footage of excessive use of firearms by soldiers. Commander Charles Andrianasoavina, notorious for threatening to shoot foreign diplomats, among others US Ambassador Niels Marquardt on …, asked the MaTV team to quit reporting or posting photos of soldiers or they would close the tv […]